


Confidential Secretary

by Angie13



Category: Perry Mason - Erle Stanley Gardner
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-03 10:55:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2848370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angie13/pseuds/Angie13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Della has plenty of thoughts about her employment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Confidential Secretary

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DesertVixen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/gifts).



> An extra treat for you because I could not resist.

Humming a merry Christmas carol under her breath, Della Street once more checked the placement of the chair. Butted up against the door with all four legs planted firmly on the bare floor, the plain piece of wooden office furniture seemed sturdy enough. Of course, that only meant it would bear up under what she planned to do, she thought. She still had to manage the feat herself.

But she was not Perry Mason's most confidential secretary for nothing. 

She smiled to herself at the thought. It had been a minor miracle to pass the interview with the too-sharp criminal lawyer, fresh out of junior partnership, ready to set up his own practice. She herself was pretty fresh from the steno pool, after all. But, from the moment they met, something clicked and the agreement was made. If happenstance could make for a happy life, then Della figured that she had a lot to thank chance for.

Chance and Perry Mason for having more than the usual amount of nerve and sense.

Of course, it had not always been smooth sailing. They had to learn each other’s quirks and tendencies, which battles to fight and which to give up as lost before they even engaged. She learned that while Perry had a brilliant mind and could think rings around most of the human race, he had a tendency to forget basic self-care and proved a surprisingly soft touch for a pair of pretty legs. She herself proved to be a bit of a tyrant if given too much leeway and her muted sarcasm shocked him for the longest time. She still suspected that some of her more cynical insights left him bemused for all that he took them in stride and took her words into consideration.

Which, she had long ago decided, was actually the nicest part of their relationship. They might not always agree and she sometimes thought him a bit stupid on the subject of women but she never felt like _just a secretary_. She would never be a partner and her name would never be on that door out front beside his but, darn it, he took her opinions on board. Over time, it became not only her opinions in general but her opinions in specific. They developed a useful game of question and answer on tough cases. Sometimes, it was the opposite and she would listen to his thought-by-thought rambles and only speak up at the end but it still never changed the fact that she spoke and that he listened.

It took time but he even came to see his own blind spots when it came to women and he would ask her opinion on female clients outright. Of course, he would still go ahead just as he liked but it was still nice to be asked.

Then there was Paul Drake who, after some time as the cozy Perry Mason and his confidential secretary act, entered the scene on a case. At first, Della felt concern that the balance would shift and, like so many other men, Perry would banish her to her desk now that he had a more masculine sounding board. To her mild shock, that never seemed to occur to Perry or even to Paul. He accepted that she was part of the firm and whatever he had to say to Perry could and would be said to Della. If he had any concerns or reservations on the arrangement, he said nothing about it and she never noticed any hesitation on his part. He discussed cases openly with her in the room and even asked her advice. At first, the advice was on ridiculous things like ties and shirts. Then it grew and expanded.

And, to be honest, Della could not deny the fact that Paul’s mild flirtations and customary “Hey, beautiful” greeting were strong points in his favor. After all, a girl liked to feel attractive and it was so easy to forget such things in a work-a-day world. Besides sometimes Paul’s attentions spurred the darndest reactions out of Perry. 

She smiled to herself and checked the chair again. If she didn’t know better, she would call it jealous moments but that was not how either Perry Mason or Paul Drake worked. If anyone was jealous, she admitted in quiet moments and with droll humor, it was her. Jealous of both men. Not of their friendship and working relationship with each other, of course. More jealous in the sense of a childish wish to keep them all to herself some days and away from the rest of the world. Contrary? Probably. As she so often told Perry, women could never be counted on to act like men and the sooner he accepted this, the smoother his cases would run.

Though it occurred to her, even as she said it, that Perry with a smooth-running case would be a very much unfulfilled Perry. Likewise for Paul, despite his grumbling complaints about the quality of his greasy meals and awkward sleeping habits due to a case. 

“And likewise for me,” she murmured aloud. A boring day in the office left too many moments to think random thoughts, thoughts that she did not feel quite up to facing yet and had a suspicion that neither man did either.

It was a peculiar situation but it was a good one. Della Street was happy, more than happy. She had respect and intellectual stimulation and just enough excitement. She had Perry and Paul, boss and co-worker but friends in addition. 

Still her wicked humor crept up and got the better of her sometimes but then that was just part and parcel of keeping things interesting, wasn’t it?

Bracing a hand on the back of the chair, Della Street clambered up onto her perch. Once her balance settled, she stretched up her hands and, with deft movements, neatly affixed a sprig of mistletoe over the private door in Perry’s office. She grinned to herself. There. That should make for a very merry holiday for all three of them.

Now, though, she had some filing to do before the boss came in.


End file.
